Mineralogical and Semi-Quantitative Chemical Composition of Some Talc Powders Sold on the Turkish Market

40 of the talcum powders sold in Turkey were investigated to determine whether they contain dangerous minerals such as chrysotile and tremolite for human health. Mineralogical and semi-quantitative chemical analyzes of the powders were made. Besides talc, mostly calcite, kaolinite, magnesite, smectite/chlorite, dolomite, quartz and rarely chrysotile (?) and tremolite were determined in the powders. It was determined that the calcite content was close to talc in some samples. Talc, tremolite and chrysotile crystals are partly flat and partly pointed and splintered. In addition, acicular, twisted, filamentous morphology crystals were also determined. Stack appearance is also observed in the fibers, sometimes in rod, tubular, and plate-like shapes. The size of the rod-like crystals is larger than those given in the literature for chrysotile (≥5µm). In the semi-quantitative chemical composition analysis, in addition to Si and Mg in the structure of silicate minerals, Fe, Ca and Al contents in many crystals were also determined. The same ratio was determined as the Mg:Si=3:2 ratio in the structural formula of chrysotile in rod-like/filamentous morphology. In general, the Si content is much higher than that of Mg, while in a few analyzes the content of these elements has been found to be close to equal. Fe or Al content has also been determined in some crystals and the Fe content should be taken into account. Because Fe, asbestos minerals may cause the risk of cancer formation in the tissues in the biological system. In addition, micron-sized quartz may carry the risk of silicosis.